The Jesse Mecham Show

We organize our lives by the calendar, and the calendar is organized into months. It's no surprise then, that we tend to think of finances in terms of months -- monthly payments, monthly contribution…

Jesse waxes poetic about Costco and how simple their model makes purchasing decisions. He also brings up the point that we often spend a lot of time searching for the best deal, for that one hot tip …

Jesse delivers a good old fashioned rant about the evils of debt. While he may have softened his rhetoric over the past decade, Jesse is no less serious about his distaste for debt!

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Well meaning companies will bring in financial advisors to extol the virtues of investing in 401ks and matching plans, while some of their employees are still living paycheck to paycheck. With YNAB, …

Money can be chaotic, noisy, tinged with anxiety and fear. Or, with YNAB, it can be boring! At YNAB we strive for money to be boring, so that life can be rich, exciting, and full.

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As the saying goes, "stuff" happens. Life throws curveballs, sometimes several in a row, and YNAB'ers prepare for this financially by following the Four Rules:

1. Give every dollar a job
2. Embrace your t…

Those categories that you love to spend in, those categories that suck you right in. What if you could increase your spending in that category by 50%? Jesse challenges you that you can in fact do thi…

According to Jesse, absolutely you can! In fact, YNAB enables you to be more spontaneous. Planning your spending with YNAB doesn't mean locking your dollars into rigid categories that cannot change. …

We tend to think of spending as a problem that needs to be solved, however YNAB encourages spending as a thing to be enjoyed, as long as that spending is in accordance with priorities and people unde…

Jesse fields a question from the YNAB team about how he stays positive in light of rapidly increasing grocery prices.

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Jesse answers another round of questions from his inbox, including a number of suggestions for new books to read!

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

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It's not uncommon for people to remark to Jesse that they wished they would have found YNAB sooner. The four habits are such a powerful tool for bringing clarity to your money and joy to your spendin…

Jesse reviews the Four Rules and takes issue with those who say, "yeah must be nice to have extra money to make a plan with... everything I make is spoken for." It's true, there are some people who h…

Your biggest single expense is one you probably don't think about much... unless you're American and it's April 15th. You may think it's housing, or maybe education, or raising kids, but all those co…

Let's cut spending! And then... what exactly? The all too common advice that you need to "cut spending" implies that your level of consumption is simply too high. That may or may not be the case, but…

Jesse answers another round of questions from YNAB listeners. Today someone asks whether there is such a thing as "perfect YNAB" use and if good enough use is OK (yes!). Another YNAB'er is confused o…

Jesse answers a question from a listener who argues that becuase he carries enough cash to cover his credit card spending at all times, he is not riding the float and therefore is gaming the credit c…

Jesse argues that the common refrain of a thing having "inherent value" or "intrinsic value" is not actually a thing. As Jesse explains, value is a moving target, constantly shifting along with our d…

Jesse is back answering another round of questions from his inbox. Today he responds to listeners asking whether the Four Rules are really rules or rather habits, what his favorite time management to…

Jesse shares a story from a YNAB'er who had a major mindset shift about money. For this person, money went from a stressful topic to envisioning it as "young creatures just looking to party." Imagini…